How bad are earbuds for your ears?

[EmotionalSloth]

I have heard diffrent answers, everything from they completely ruin your hearing to they don't affect them all, which is it?

 

I use apple earpods and like them a lot (and use them a lot!) but I dont want to end up deaf by the time im 20

[ZetZet]

Everything that makes loud sounds can ruin your hearing, solution - don't turn up the volume.

http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/education/information-center/noise-induced-hearing-loss/

simplified.

EU recommends all mp3 players to be limited to 85dB. I never listen to my music that loud though, maybe for very short durations.

[Rorgash]

its about how high the volume is

[Zeke]

Depends on how deep you shove them.

[dizmo]

Depends how responsible you are with them. Just don't turn them up too loud and you'll be fine. Turn them up to high levels and you'll damage your hearing.

It's like water. Drink the right amount and you're fine. Drink too much, too quickly and it's fatal.

[Izaya Orihara]

They don't affect your ears at all. Unless you cranck the up to 100% 100% of the time. (pun intended)

[Murdoch]

I think it would depend on how loud the volume is. Sustained exposure to anything above a certain decibel level will eventually harm your hearing.

[creatip123]

IEM will damage your ears in the same sense as standing right in front of a big speaker at a rock concert will. In that sense, headphones or speakers will damage your ears as well, if they go too loud.

 

One more thing to consider though, always try to keep the rubber tips clean, by cleaning them regularly, or store them properly. They will pick up dust and bacteria from everywhere. Our body got a certain level of immune system to fight it, but there is always a small risk of infections....

[ZetZet]

My ears grow intolerant at like 80 dB lol

Preffer avg of 75 dB with peeks of no higher then 105 dB with bass.

My brain starts to hurt real fast, probably some kind of defense mechanism  :lol:

[SSL]

The problem is if you are trying to drown out ambient noise, listening levels can become unsafe pretty quickly in that situation.

[creatip123]

The problem is if you are trying to drown out ambient noise, listening levels can become unsafe pretty quickly in that situation.

 

This....

 

To OP and the others (who might need it), if you found that after wearing your IEM, the ambient noise is still too loud, DO NOT turn the IEM's volume up (to dangerous levels). Instead, either turn the ambient noise down (if you have control over the source, like TV, speakers, etc), walk away from the ambient noise's source, or get a set of more noise-insulating after market IEM tips. Good ones that I know of are Comply foam tips, and Westone star tips.

[creatip123]

My brain hurts to, your like that guy that would gladly ban something just cos you hate it, you don't care if their others that like it you want no one to play it.

You sound like extremist, i don't like extremist.

 

Its like hey i don't like computers, lets ban computers of the world sigh.......

 

Wait2....who's banning what...??

[consoleconvergence2pc]

What about music producers and artist for many years, they are seem fine 

[creatip123]

What about music producers and artist for many years, they are seem fine 

 

Ummm, have you read the replies above? It's not about what device the sound is coming from, it's about how loud ANY device produce sounds that are attacking your eardrums.

 

Producers and artists take care of their hearing by controlling the volume of loudness they are receiving, either by controlling the device itself (device's volume), or when they can't do that (like sound engineers/operators at a rock concert), they use earplugs to block most of the noise, like this one: https://www.complyfoam.com/products/comply-foam-plugs/ (surely they use better quality ones )

[h264]

Don't listen over 85db PEAK for an extended period of time and you'll be fine.  The problem is that's not as loud as you think, and people tend to turn up their earbuds to both hear parts of the music that are not represented well in cheap earbuds (the bass) and to drown out everything else even though most stock earbuds have little or no isolation.

 

So yeah, they'll be a lot of 40 year olds with hearing aids in 10-15 years, and if you want to avoid their fate, turn down your music more than you think you need to.

[SSL]

What about music producers and artist for many years, they are seem fine 

 

Uh, no? Plenty of those people have partial hearing loss, tinnitus, etc. after long enough.

[ShearMe]

Uh, no? Plenty of those people have partial hearing loss, tinnitus, etc. after long enough.

 

Probably explains why mastering techniques haven't gotten better over time more than anything else.

[SSL]

Probably explains why mastering techniques haven't gotten better over time more than anything else.

 

lol, good point.

[mr moose]

Probably explains why mastering techniques haven't gotten better over time more than anything else.

 

Mastering should be O.K because it's done in a studio at lower levels, live mixing on the other hand and you are dead right.  I have heard some shocking live mixing done by people that in comparison should make me look like a dirty skullcandy peasant.